Police Blotter, Week of Oct.18, 2012

Murder suspect caught
Police have collared the prime suspect in a fatal shooting outside a Lower East Side barbershop two weeks ago.

Joshua Nunez, 21, of Bushwick, was arrested on Monday, and has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Nunez allegedly shot Nolita resident Charles Fernandez, 29, after an argument between the two men quickly escalated outside the Jose Beauty Salon and Barbershop on Forsyth St. on Oct. 6.

Heads up!
Sometimes it’s best not to use your head to defuse the situation.

Thomas Mulcaire, 40, was arrested for assault on Sat., Oct. 13, after witnesses reported he head-butted a 41-year-old man during a dispute at a West Village bar.

The vicious strike, which landed around midnight inside La Villette at 10 Downing St., left the victim with a large cut above his eye and he was sent to New York Downtown Hospital for treatment.

Pickpocket pinched
A West Village pickpocket apparently likes getting a little touchy feeling with his unsuspecting victims — but he and a friend ended up in handcuffs after they tried to make off with a man’s cell phone on Fri., Oct. 12.

Roldan Nelson, 44, began following a 47-year-old man after he saw him walk out of the Monster bar on Grove St. around 11 p.m., police said. Nelson continued to stalk the man as he walked west on Christopher St., and began trying to talk to him. The man told officers that, after Nelson got no response from him, Nelson then started putting his arms around him several different times.

The victim told cops he then felt a tug on his pants, and quickly realized that his cell phone had been snatched from its belt-clip holder. By the time the victim looked up again, Nelson had fled the scene.

But when police canvassed the area shortly after, they found Nelson with the stolen phone in his possession and arrested him for grand larceny. Nelson was sharing his spoils with Joel McCray, 47, at the time, and police also busted McCray when they found a crack pipe in his pocket.

Puzzling iBurglary try
Police are investigating a burglary attempt at the Apple store on Prince St., which took place early Mon., Oct. 15, and didn’t result in any property actually being taken.

Officers responded to a call stating that someone had broken the 103 Prince St. store’s front windows and attempted to enter around 2 a.m., but the perpetrator had already fled the scene by the time they showed up.

While they could find no information to identify the apparent burglar, officers did discover a pair of 14-inch bolt cutters sitting near the store’s smashed windows.

Burglar overdid it
Police nabbed a burglar who got too greedy during his romp through a Greenwich Village apartment building on Tues., Oct. 9.

Herstan Stanford, 19, entered the 25 Minetta Lane building around 9 p.m. by climbing the rear fire escape, cops said. After rummaging through a sixth-floor apartment, he stepped into the hallway and decided to check out each floor on his way back down.

But a 32-year-old resident of the building spotted Stanford and called 911 as the burglar was still searching for potential grabs. Police quickly showed up and busted Stanford on the building’s second-floor landing, charging him with burglary.

Bat attacker arrested
The man suspected of brutally beating a 33-year-old woman with a baseball bat in Christopher Park has been arrested, police said.

Johnny Blanding, 48, was busted on Wed., Oct. 10, according to court documents, for the crime that took place around 11:30 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 6, and has been charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Blanding and the woman argued on the night of the incident in the park at Christopher St. and Seventh Ave. South, according to the police report. He then walked away, came back several minutes later with the wooden bat, and allegedly hit her in the head with it twice.

The attack left the woman with a fractured skull and jaw, and she was immediately taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she had to have screws and bolts placed in her head, according to court documents.

Blanding was arraigned on Oct. 11, and is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 8.

Drinks are on you!
Some women just convince hapless men to buy them drinks during their night out — but one cunning female tried paying for her liquor with a credit card she’d just stolen from another woman in the bar.

Thalia Gomez, 19, was arrested for grand larceny on Wed., Oct. 10, around 10 p.m. after attempting to use the card she had just swiped from a 39-year-old woman while she was in the bathroom, police said.

A bartender for El Cantinero, at 86 University Place, had gotten wise after noticing Gomez’s sneaky tactics, and reported the crime while the teen thief was still enjoying her free drink.

Subway snatcher
In yet another reminder of why you shouldn’t nap on the subway, police arrested a crook who snatched a cell phone and cash from the pocket of a dozing L train rider early on Sun., Oct. 14.

Lorde Young, 38, noticed the sleeping man as their train pulled into the Eighth Ave. stop, at W. 14th St., around 6:30 a.m., and quickly fished the items out of the straphanger’s pocket before turning to make his escape. The problem was, a police officer on the station platform saw the whole thing, and chased after the thief as he stepped out of the train.

Young slipped away at first and fled topside, leading the officer on a westbound foot chase, but was eventually apprehended at the corner of W. 14th St. and Ninth Ave. In addition to being busted for grand larceny, he was slapped with a charge of resisting arrest.

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